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| Stacy Lewis - 2013 Ricoh British Open Champion |
So history was made at the Home of Golf. It was not quite of the monumental variety, as Inbee Park was not able to win a fourth consecutive major.
But to win an Open at St Andrews is always special and means the champion is a part of history. World No 2 Stacy Lewis won the Ricoh Women’s British Open with two magnificent birdies at the final two holes and will go down as one of the great Old Course specialists.
In the 2008 Curtis Cup, the American won all five of her matches and now in her first Open on these ancient links she came from three behind with two to play to claim a two-stroke victory.
This was a girl who grew up in Texas wearing a back brace for seven and a half years and then at the age of 18 had a steel rod inserted in her back to overcome scoliosis. To return to the game she loved was something of a miracle. To be piped off the Old Course holding the Open trophy on a sunny Sunday evening was a fairy tale.
“It’s unbelievable,” Lewis said. “I love this golf course. I love the history and it is amazing to think of all the great champions who have won here. Of all the links courses I’ve played, I think good shots get rewarded here. I played it 11 times during Curtis Cup week and this year we had a great gameplan for playing it in all the different winds. I felt so comfortable out there but after the seventh the wind was brutal. I never thought birdieing the last two holes would be possible.”
In the winds of the last three days, few else felt anything like at ease. On a day of two rounds due to the suspension of the third round early on Saturday, Lewis first compiled a 69, which included two late bogeys at the 16th and 17th holes. Only Catriona Matthew had scored better, a 68 helped by a birdie at the 17th and an eagle at the last when she holed a lob wedge from 67 yards.
Lewis entered the final round one behind Morgan Pressel. Of the last 42 players on the course in the afternoon, when the wind got up again, Lewis was the only player to match par. No one bettered it. Pressel closed with a 76 to share fourth place with Suzann Pettersen, who had a 74. Second place went to 36-hole leader Na Yeon Choi, who had rounds of 75 and 73 on Sunday, and HeeYoungPark, who closed with a 73. Matthew’s hopes of a second Open title went with a triple bogey at the fifth hole.
At some points in the final round, at least four players shared the lead. But when Pressel four-putted at the 12th and Choi holed a long putt at the 10th, the Korean was three ahead. Lewis was still three behind when she bogeyed the 15th, her third dropped shot in five holes although she also birdied the 14th.
After a par at the 16th, Lewis hit a five-iron at the notorious 17th to two feet. “One of the best shots of my career,” Lewis said. “It was a shot you see in your mind but then you pull it off exactly as you wanted. It was a low-five, hoping it would turn on the wind and land at the front of the green and roll up. If it had landed on top it would have run over the back. The wind knocked it down and where it landed was perfect.”
Lewis added: “I thought seven under might get in a playoff but after I made a birdie there, I was going for one more birdie at the last.” It came with a putt from just inside 30 feet and left her at eight under. Choi, who was spilling shots coming home, finished at six under alongside Park, who had been playing with Lewis.
“It all happened so fast at the end,” Lewis said. “You are fighting for every shot and then you make two birdies and it is all over. I was hanging in their all day. My patience is what won it for me today.
